You’ve heard it your whole life; you need to eat a well-balanced diet. From the time we enter elementary school, nurses and dieticians come into the classroom to talk about the major food groups and how it’s essential to get enough foods from each category.
We listen, maybe follow it a little bit, and then it gets pushed to the back of your mind.
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If you are a little more health conscious, which often happens as we get older, you start focusing a little bit more on good nutrition. You want to live your best life, and part of that is following a proper diet plan.
Where do all these nutrition facts come from though? Find out more about what nutrition is, the foods that fall into the good nutrition category, and how you can implement it into your daily life.
What is Nutrition?
You’ve heard the term ‘nutrition‘ without question at some point throughout your life. The good nutrition definition is eating a healthy and balanced diet.
So, knowing that, you now know that nutrition isn’t necessarily a thing, but more of an action. You get nutrition through consuming the proper foods and drinks that give you a balanced and healthy diet.
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Your body requires a specific amount of nutrients from all different categories in order to perform at its optimum state. Some of the most common nutrients that your systems need to maintain your health include:
- Proteins
- Fats
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Carbohydrates
Where you get these ingredients from is going to make a difference in whether or not you are practicing good nutrition.
Why is Nutrition Important?
You hear about eating a healthy and well-balanced diet to maintain your weight and because it’s good for you, but have you ever thought about why it’s good for you?
It goes way beyond just looking your best. What you are putting into your body on a daily basis is going to have an impact on your overall health and well-being for now and for years to come.
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Starting with the most obvious, getting and maintaining a healthy weight is essential to your daily life. According to studies done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 33.8% of American adults are obese and so are 17% of children. Being overweight comes with a slew of negative side effects including:
- High blood pressure
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Kidney disease
- Heart failure
Being skinny is more than just looking good in your favorite pair of jeans. There are many risks to your health if you aren’t eating good nutritious food and following a healthy diet.
Beyond being overweight, if you aren’t following good nutrition practices, you can be at risk for chronic health problems further down the road.
Any of these conditions can occur even if you maintain a healthy weight but you aren’t getting your nutrition from the proper sources. Your body is at risk for things like osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and even death.
What are the Good Nutrition Benefits?
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You don’t want to always have to eat healthy, because let’s face it, a greasy hamburger and order of onion rings taste amazing going down.
What happens to your body after you consume these things can cause damages that you can’t see or be aware of until after doing it for so long.
While it’s okay to give in to your cravings once in a while, it’s best if you stick with good nutrition to take advantage of all the benefits. What are those good nutrition benefits? There are plenty of them including:
- Reduce blood pressure
- Lower high cholesterol
- Reduce the risk of diseases like diabetes, stroke, cancer, and osteoporosis
- Overall better health and well-being
- Increased immune system
- Faster recovery from injury and illness
- More energy
All the problems that you are susceptible to as a result of eating poorly are reversed when you decide to take your health into your own hands and follow a healthy diet.
Tips for Good Nutrition Practices in Your Everyday Life
Eating healthy and following a well-balanced diet seems easy for some people, but if you are struggling with getting things figured out, there are several tips and tricks to make it a regular part of your day.
1. Stay Away From Drinking Sugar Calories
Your body doesn’t register liquid sugar calories the same way as it does food calories. When you’re drinking fruit juices and sodas, you are consuming a lot of sugar and you can end up getting way more calories than what you think.
2. Don’t Eat Processed Foods
Your body is being tricked by these processed foods into thinking you need more than what you do and they are a huge contributor to the world’s obesity problem.
3. Drink Plenty of Water
Your body will burn more calories if you drink enough water, especially right before meals.
4. Eat Lots of Fruits and Vegetables
You can get a plethora of the nutrients your body needs through fruits and vegetables including vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
5. Get Plenty of Protein
Protein is what makes you feel full and cuts out cravings. Your body needs plenty of it to boost metabolism and burn calories. It also lowers blood pressure and blood sugar.
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6. Don’t Overcook Your Meat
Proteins and other nutrients found in your meats can be lost when your meat is burnt or overcooked. Additionally, harmful cancer-causing compounds can be formed with overcooked meat.
7. Cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
When it comes to healthy fats, extra virgin olive oil has a ton of it. There are antioxidants and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that your body will benefit from.
8. Stay Away From Refined Carbs
There are good carbohydrates and bad ones. Stay away from the refined ones that have been highly processed.
9. Stick with Saturated Fats
Too much saturated fat can raise your cholesterol, but the right amount raises the good cholesterol number which lowers your chances for getting heart disease.
10. Keep Track of Your Diet
By keeping a record of what you are eating a regular basis, you will have a clearer picture of whether or not you are practicing good nutrition techniques. See where changes need to be made easily.
If you want to live out the rest of your life in a happy and healthy way, make sure you follow these tips and implement good nutrition into your lifestyle wherever you can.
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